


Beneath You're Beautiful

by bluepulsebluepulse



Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Impulse (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bluepulse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, M/M, Not sure how I feel about this fic, Our boys are aged up tho, Speedbuggy, Trigger Warning: Home Invasion & Gun Violence (no one gets hurt tho), YJBingo, i wrote this in 2019, references to season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:20:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28383876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluepulsebluepulse/pseuds/bluepulsebluepulse
Summary: Young Justice Bingo 2020 Collection - bluepulsebluepulse - Enemies To LoversTwo of the promising candidates for the Justice League, Impulse and Blue Beetle, meet by chance when assigned to the same mission. Despite the mission being a complete success, the pair get off on the wrong foot. Now that they despise one another, what will it take for one of them to turn around?
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17
Collections: Young Justice Bingo 2020





	1. Strong Starts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PaintingWithDarkness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintingWithDarkness/gifts).



> LAST YJBingo fic!!! Hopefully this means I have technically fulfilled my end of the bargain for completing the YJBingo card i was given?
> 
> Also, why is everything that I'm writing at the moment angsty as fk? What is happening to me?!!? sdfhodsihgsogihf
> 
> \- - -

The long reigning president of Qurac managed to swallow and hide his nerves. It was a miracle the gulp made it down given how tightly the pristine, white business shirt collar was choking him. He would have tried to loosen the anaconda around his neck had he not found himself in greater danger in reality. 

He was currently complying to every order that was shouted at him by the masked intruders spilling into his home like a herd of stampeding buffalo. The lights were low which meant that visibility was poor. Unfortunately, the frightened man couldn’t make out any identifying details on the outfits of the criminals rounding up his family against the drab wallpaper. 

His stomach twisted as he heard a blood curdling scream come from his daughter’s room.

“Please don’t hurt my daughter!” he begged, reaching out with a hand to implicitly ask them to show some compassion.

“Shut up and sit down!” 

The closest gunman strode over to aggressively press the tip of his machine gun into the expensive cotton of Rumaan’s jacket. The leader simply bowed his head sadly, accepting the warning message. He knew he wouldn’t be of much help to Noor if he allowed himself to get shot by protesting against their will.

“Where’s the money?”

The brother of the president cowering against the wall spoke up first.

“It’s in the safe!” 

It took a moment to work through the fear, but Sumaan raised a trembling finger to point in the general direction of the item at the top of the thieves shopping list.

“You! Take us there.  _ Now! _ ” 

A second man sporting one of the unusual, red, game controller-like masks prodded Sumaan in the back with a rifle. The terrified man shakily rose to his feet before dragging his feet to the opposite side of the large room.

This situation was slowly escalating and the president knew it would only be a matter of time until one of the violent intruders fired more than just a warning shot. This was not going to end well if he didn’t get help and fast. He knew what he had to do, it just wouldn’t be easy.

All heads snapped towards the sudden screams of a young woman coming from down the hall. The president’s parental instincts kicked in and he made the riskiest move possible. Using the distraction caused by his daughter’s cries for help, he quietly dived under his desk to press the silent alarm button. 

Luckily none of the intruders noticed as he quickly leaped out from underneath his desk to cling to the wall again. Truthfully, he found it difficult to display the same level of terror on his face as he had been wearing only moments ago. Now that he had activated the silent alarm, he knew help would soon be on its way; and that was a weight off his shoulders.

It didn’t take long for the news to circle amongst high ranking officials and the Justice League. The evolving situation was kept under wraps to ensure the public didn’t find out. The last thing the League needed was a civilian tipping off a local news outlet to alert the criminals to the fact that they had all been caught onto. 

Martian Manhunter was quick to reach across the Watchtower’s control panel to press the necessary buttons to broadcast his timber voice to everybody.

“Watchtower to all respondents. We have a situation in Qurac. If you’re available, please respond immediately. The president has triggered the silent alarm.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away back on Earth, a speedster had just polished off an impressive amount of fast food for dinner. Bart admired the paper bag ocean scattered across the marble countertop kitchen island. He licked the tips of his fingers to get the last traces of chicken salt left.

“ _ Mmm… _ That was crash.” 

A tornado whirled around the kitchen carrying along with it all the mess that had to be gone before Iris got home. With the cleaning out of the way, Bart flopped on the couch and wondered what to do with the rest of his night. A few options came to mind, but then he heard an all too common alert notification ping on his phone; now he had only one option.

Tearing up the staircase to his bedroom, the superhero promptly got suited up in his new and improved Impulse costume. As Wally had once grown out of the Kid Flash uniform, now too had Bart. Bart’s current suit wasn’t only custom made, it was also custom designed. 

He was a man of many talents, and he put his artistry skills to the test. It was probably his favorite suit to date; although he did still have a soft spot for the first one he had donned. During his teenage years he had been glad to have swapped to a costume that was more conservative, but he was now back in spandex again. 

He knew it was sleek, stylish and comfortable; it hugged him nicely in all the right places. Despite some of the eyebrows that raised at his level of confidence, he was proud of his body and he had nothing to be ashamed of.  _ Nothing… _ His costume showed off his masculinity in a professional light as seen in some of the costumes worn by certain men in the Justice League.

He raised his finger to the gold, lightning bolt cap over his right ear and pressed it.

“Impulse to watchtower. I’m on it!”

Bart disconnected the call before zipping out onto the street on his way to Qurac. He loaded up the coordinates on the inbuilt GPS for directions in his ear whilst masterfully dodging traffic on the roads.

Martian Manhunter had been raising his green finger to call Impulse back when a code red alert popped up on the screen. The speedster had been too quick to end the call before the martian had even had the chance to inform him that Blue Beetle had also accepted the mission. 

Prioritizing the code red, Impulse and Blue Beetle were both left assigned to the mission without any knowledge of one another’s presence.

_ “Your destination is on the left in one mile.” _

Bart continued running at super speed leaving behind an impressive dust cloud as he approached the President’s home. Of course, the mile was over in a blink and he burst directly into the house without a second thought; hence his superhero name.

To be fair though, there wasn’t really much benefit for scoping out buildings when you had super speed anyway. In the past he had always taken precautionary measures like that whilst under Barry’s tutelage. But now that he was faster than ever, and than anyone in the world; it seemed unnecessary.

Right away, he spotted at least two dozen of the Light’s shadow henchmen. He could recognize those face masks anywhere. It always made him wonder why the Light never mixed things up, but who was he to complain? It made his job easier.

The speedster made short work of disarming each goon in the time it had taken for one of them to sneeze. Bart relished in the confused sounds that bubbled across the room for a moment before knocking them out cold. He shook out his hand for a moment before circling up the flight of stairs into the next level of the mansion.

Only now did he stop at the slightly ajar door leading into the president's office where all the action was going down. He peeked his head in to get a glimpse at what all the yelling was about.

“Is that everything?”

The tall hooligan waved his gun around in the president’s direction as his accomplice roughly shoved Sumaan against the wall. The man was caught by the other hostages that had been rounded up over the course of the raid. The president’s staff shuffled aside to make room against the wall for the man.

“Yes! Now  _ please, _ let us go.”

“We  _ could _ , but we’re not going to…”

The crook grinned as he raised his machine gun at the first end of the fence-like lineup of hostages. They all gasped and shut their eyes tighter than the suitcase of money on the floor by the safe. His finger pulled down on the trigger and Bart was the only one who heard it happen in slow motion.

With no time to waste, Bart threw the door open with a slam and ran into the office. In slow motion, Bart watched as dozens of bullets were propelled from the weapon in a cloud of ominous grey smoke. The room echoed with slow motion screams.

Bart gritted his teeth and began running in line with the hostages to pluck each bullet out of the air by hand. In real time, the vanishing bullets were just dawning upon the shooter who was beginning to realize something was up. Bart waited for the perfect moment to strike.

The goon furrowed his eyebrows and stopped shooting having noticed all the hostages very much alive. He saw something blur across the room, but he had no idea what it was.

Suddenly, the man heard an arm full of the missing bullets scatter along the floor. He spun around to catch a glimpse of the suitcase of stolen money being swung at his head. The man collapsed on to the floor with a grunt, concussed like his evil sidekick.

Bart’s took a deep breath as a sigh of relief.

“Is everyone okay?”

None of the hostages could speak, only tremble. The best they could manage was a chorus of slow nods. Bart settled his hands on his hips and was about to focus on getting the hostages some medical attention, when something strange happened.

Something crashed through the window, sending shards of glass scattering about the room. Unable to see the backlit object, Bart hurled himself in front of the hostages to protect them from the unknown threat; waiting for a chance to strike when he could see a little bit better.

Bart watched as an armored man ran into the center of the room, before setting his sights on the speedster. Jaime immediately lowered his arms-turned-weapons.

“Impulse?” he asked with confusion, “What are you doing here?”

Bart’s shoulders relaxed knowing that whoever this man was, he was clearly a good guy.

“I’ve taken care of everything,” he grinned and brushed his hands together before looking up, “Wait… Who are you?”

As Jaime was about to answer, the president ran up to Bart and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Where’s my daughter?!”

“I- I didn’t see her.” Concern washed over Bart’s face; Jaime’s to match. “What does she look like?”

The president got a taste of his own medicine as a screech of tires interrupted him. It was suddenly apparent to everyone in the room that Noor Harjavti had been kidnapped. Clearly the Light’s minions had other plans. The real mission all along was to capture the president’s daughter, and now they were making their getaway.

“Impulse,” Blue Beetle turned to face the speedster, “We could-”

“Don’t worry,” he shouted confidently, “I got this!” 

Bart gave a two finger salute to the Blue Beetle, before running around the room to scoop up a handful of the shards of glass on the floor. Without another word, Bart dashed at the wall and phased right through it before running down the outside of the building and onto the grounds.

Jaime had been momentarily mesmerized by the trick before he flew straight out the paneless window to help. The stunned ex-hostages all ran over to the wall and peered out the window to watch on. They could see a news crew on the ground and police cars that were finally rocking up to the party late; but they were more interested in the kidnappers.

A sketchy, black, vehicle was rocketed forward by it’s worn tires. Before the car’s wheels could make even a full rotation, Bart was already ahead of it. He carefully tossed handfuls of the glass just ahead of each of the wheels. He knew that the makeshift road spikes would puncture the tires at any moment so he had to act quick.

Running around to the right side of the car, Bart yanked the door open and pulled Noor out by her wrist. It hadn’t been too difficult to scoop her up into the safety of his arms. He was just thankful she hadn’t been buckled in because that would have made his life so much more difficult.

Inevitably, the timeframe ran out and the wheels popped with a loud clap. Bart and the woman he had saved were now safely standing aside the driveway and watched as the vehicle swerved sharply towards the water feature in the front yard. Of course the car crashed, making a noise even louder than when the tires had burst.

Jaime descended from the sky where he had been monitoring the situation and landed on the ground near the car. He quickly raised sonic canons at the henchman who all stumbled out of the getaway car majorly disoriented. They did their best to hold their hands up to surrender.

The situation had now officially been handled. 

The police eagerly rushed forward to handcuff and seize the criminals which had been taken down, courtesy of the superheroes. Christmas came early for the officers who raided the house and discovered that there were dozens of arrests to be made.

Jaime walked over to Bart as Noor ran across the lawn to reunite with her father at the entrance of their mansion.

“Impulse!”

Bart turned to face a reporter running towards him with a camera crew. She quickly brushed her hair and stood beside the speedster facing the camera.

“This is Cat Grant live. We just witnessed Impulse rescue Noor Harjavti, the daughter of the president of Qurac. That was very impressive! Can you give us a few words?”

Bart blinked as a microphone was shoved in his face so quickly that he didn’t even see it. There was only one thing to do… Grin like a winner.

“I was just doing my job Cat. That’s what us superheroes do.” 

Bart turned to wink at Jaime and discovered that the man’s alien armor didn’t preclude him from seeing the man beneath roll his eyes.

“Oh!  _ And _ ,” he threw his arm around Blue Beetle and pulled him close to soak up some of the lemon-light, “I couldn’t have done it without…  _ Uhh… _ This guy!”

Bart beamed confidently to the camera before leaning up to whisper to the man, “Wait, who are you again?”

Jaime gently brushed Bart’s arm off of his shoulder and began to storm off looking royally pissed off. Bart politely excused himself from the news crew and immediately took after the superhero, ignoring Cat as she called out after him as he ran off. She quickly gave up and got back to it.

“Well there you have it folks. Impulse and Blue Beetle have saved the day! I for one think they make a pretty good team. Now back to other news.”

The speedster stopped ahead of the scolding man, and raised a hand to stop him.

“ _ Woah! Woah! Woah! _ Wait! Where are you going?”

“I have better things to do than kiss up to the press.” 

Bart tried not to take the tone dripping in judgement personally. After all, he had clearly angered a colleague, and he didn’t want that on his conscience.

“I mean there’s no harm in a  _ little  _ bit of good press?”

Jaime scoffed and went to walk around Bart, simply not wanting to waste his time debating with the speedster. And that’s when the Caucasian’s hand came up to hold the cobalt chestplate in place. Jaime clenched his teeth as he tried to ignore Khaji Da’s pleas to eviscerate the daring man.

“ _ Please _ , let me finish,” he took his hand back to rub at his neck instead, “I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m Impulse.”

Bart stuck out his busy hand enthusiastically for a handshake, sincerely hoping that Jaime wouldn’t leave him hanging.

Against everything Jaime believed in, he decided to ignore Khaji Da’s wishes and introduce himself. Besides, it was kind of hard when the speedster looked so endearing with his big green, apologetic eyes.

“Blue Beetle,” he slowly swung his hand to meet Bart’s in the middle.

“Oh! Well, it’s totally crash to meet you Blue Beetle.”

Jaime didn’t want to be rude but he didn’t really feel like he could return the sentiment. He was going to think of something to say in response when Khaji Da put his two cents in. This of course lead to an argument which lasted too long for Bart’s taste.

“Hey Blue,” he waved hand in front of Jaime’s faceplate, “Is everything alright? You seem kind of moded?” 

It was dark, but Jaime could definitely see the concern in the speedster’s eyes. Maybe he had misjudged the man. Then he suddenly remembered his first bone to pick with the speedster.

“Didn’t you know that I had accepted this mission too? We could have worked together! We could have strategized! Noor nearly got abducted!”

“No! I swear I didn’t know you were coming! Double M never mentioned you were coming?”

Jaime relaxed despite Bart’s irritating fondness for nicknames, and began to feel a little guilty for giving Bart the cold shoulder. However, that soon changed as the speedster continued talking.

“Anyway, I had it covered. No big deal. And besides, I’m a lot faster than you, so you would have only slowed me down.” 

Bart had offered the remark in a tone that had conveyed he  _ didn’t  _ want Jaime to take offence to it; but unfortunately he did.

“Slow you down?” he stated sharply.

“Don’t take it the wrong way! I just,” he shrugged apologetically, “I work better alone...”

“I better get going then, I don’t want to get in your way!”

“Blue Beetle wait!”

Having already started to walk away, he pivoted on his back foot to snap, “What?”

“I  _ guess _ ,” he glanced at his feet for a moment before being vulnerable with Jaime, “I guess I have trouble working with other superheroes because I’m trying really hard to build up my own merit. I want a good rep. Y’know… So the League will induct me next!” 

Bart smiled sweetly hoping that Jaime would understand, but instead he laughed cruelly.

“With your lack of teamwork skills, you’ll never get inducted into the Justice League!  _ Besides _ ,” he pointed a thumb at his chest, “I intend to get that position  _ tonto _ .”

Bart quickly got over the insult to chuckle back in Jaime’s face as if he were naive to something. This only flared the Latino’s temper, not to mention Khaji Da’s. The scarab was showing more hatred towards Bart than anybody else than Jaime could ever recall.

“What? You don’t think I can make it?”

“Well… I didn’t say that. But I have connections,” he leaned forward with his arms folded to leer, “I’m the grandson of Barry Allen. Y’know, the Flash?”

“Unlike you, I intend to get in based on  _ actual _ merit. I don’t need a  _ pity  _ invite from a relative.” 

Jaime’s barbed comment cut Bart deep.

“ _ Look _ ,” he pointed a threatening finger at Jaime, “I was only trying to be nice to you, but you’re just being a jerk!”

“Me?” he shouted in disbelief before muttering a string of Spanish curses. “This coming from the guy who can’t work with anyone else and who doesn’t think  _ anything  _ through!” 

“Doi! That’s  _ why  _ they call me  _ Impulse _ !”

“Whatever.” 

Jaime was officially done exchanging childish insults with the man. He knew that his mother would have been horrified by the lack of his maturity throughout the exchange; but he couldn't bring himself to care. He wanted to fly home so that he could vent all about his encounter with Impulse to his roommate Tye; at least _he'd_ understand Jaime's point of view. His wings sprang out from the scarab and he launched off into the sky without saying goodbye.

Bart shook his head in disbelief as he watched his new enemy fly away. He couldn’t wait to tell Barry and Iris about the incredibly rude colleague which he had just met. He was never one to make enemies, not with superheroes anyway. The anger brewing inside of Bart from toe to head was making his auburn hair appear almost red. And with that, he disappeared with a gust of wind.


	2. Word To The Wise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M REALLY SORRY FOR HAVING ACCIDENTALLY MARKED THIS FIC AS COMPLETED. 
> 
> It's not! I'll let you know in the notes of the final chapter when it's done.
> 
> Sorry for the confusion. Hope you enjoy Chapter 2 (sorry it took so long to proof read - and I bet spelling mistakes still made it past me).

The unusually cruel slam of the front door signified Bart’s arrival to his worried grandparents. They had both been watching the news and had heard about the attempted abduction; more concerningly, that they Light was somehow involved. Barry knew from first hand experience that Savage’s secret club was no laughing matter.

“Bart?” Iris shifted her sights from the television she had just turned off to the entrance to the hallway. “Is that you?”

The speedster simply stopped in the doorway and gripped both sides of the wall with his hands.

“You wouldn’t  _ believe  _ the guy I just met!” 

“Well hello to you too,” she murmured.

“You look pretty riled up kid. Everything alright?” Barry rose to his feet from the sofa.

Bart took the invitation to unburden himself and began angrily pacing back and forth in the lounge room.

“No, everything’s totally moded! I just met the rudest superhero ever! He was so mean! And stubborn. And-”

“Bart,” Barry interrupted, “Did you want to take a seat and tell us what happened?”

Only now did Bart stop tearing up the carpet and take a deep breath. In all honesty, he didn’t want to relive the argument he had had with Blue Beetle. Something tugged at him deeper down, and he didn’t like the feeling. He had been in the wrong. And his grandparent’s expressions had confirmed his fears that he may have blown the interaction out of proportion.

They both looked utterly stunned by Bart’s extreme level of agitation. It took a lot to ruffle Bart’s feathers, and they both knew that. He was usually a very friendly, cheeky, but charming sort of guy;  _ rarely _ angry. Even when people got annoyed by Bart’s cheek, he could always seemingly smooth things over. This was a first.

“Sorry Gramps, Grandma. I just- I think I’ll go to bed.”

Barry and Iris both said goodnight before immediately turning to one another for a hushed conversation. They discussed how strange Bart’s behavior had been that night. Iris in particular wanted the full scoop. There was clearly a story to be heard, and tomorrow she was ready to tucker into Bart to get it.

Bart’s bedroom door was treated much more nicely, and was gently clicked shut behind him this time. Leaning against the grain of the wood, Bart sighed before eventually projecting himself off to get changed into his pajamas and slide under the bed covers. 

His head tossed and turned as he couldn’t help but wonder whether Blue Beetle was still stewing on their interaction like he was. There was just something about the man that prevented Bart from thinking about anything else, which was really annoying given how tired he was. He just wanted sleep, but it seemed this hellish night wouldn’t grant him such mercy.

Many borders away in the city of El Paso, Jaime had just stomped up onto his apartment’s doormat. He already knew that his roommate Tye Longshadow would be awake. He shoved his hand around brutally in his pocket as he searched for the dang key. Once he had found the scared silverware, he brought it out of hiding and stabbed it into the keyhole. Once the door was open, he flung it open so hard that the handle on the side punched a hole in the wall.

“Woah,” Tye looked at him from the couch, “What’s got you so mad?” 

Jaime’s shoulder tensed at the irritatingly calm tone before he stormed in.

“You wouldn’t believe the nerve of this guy I met earlier tonight! He was  _ such  _ an ass!”

“Did he actually have a nice ass?” Tye couldn’t help but smirk as he poked fun at Jaime’s bisexuality. It was always fun to mess with his best friend, especially when he was mad.

The long suffering man was quick to shoot back, “You  _ DO NOT _ want to test me right now hermano.”

Tye raised his chin a little at the melodramatic but empty threat, sensing that things were different this time. Deciding to take mercy on Jaime - whose blood was clearly boiling if his reddened features were of any indication - Tye gave up the games and got to business.

“Alright hermano, tell me what happened?”

“I met another superhero tonight. He’s a speedster; and a self-entitled one at that. He’s awful to work with. Just does things on his own terms.  _ And  _ he thinks I don’t stand a chance at getting into the Justice League during their next intake because he’s related to the Flash.”

“Wait a second… Are you talking about Impulse?”

“¡Si!” Jaime’s eyes lit up in anticipation of sharing a good roast about the speedster with Tye.

“ _ Oh, _ ” he offered sheepishly, “I know him. He’s actually a pretty cool guy Jaime…”

“¿Qué?”

“I met him through a friend. He’s a nice guy when you get to know him... You two probably just got off the wrong foot?”

“You’re actually  _ defending  _ him!”

“No,” he readjusted himself to regretfully get a better look at Jaime’s sour face, “I didn’t say that... I just think-”

“Oh forget it,” he turned and stormed right out the door cutting off the conversation with a door slam.

Tye pondered whether he should get off the couch and try to console his best friend. He gave it a few moments before deciding to leave it alone.

In the isolation of his bedroom, Jaime sifted into his mattress. Opting for a distraction, he flicked on the television to help him fall to asleep. He always struggled to fall asleep when he was mad over something. It certainly didn’t help that the artificial intelligence on his back was trying to incite a war.

Eventually, Jaime drifted off to sleep; his last thought being about the grudge which had now expanded to include Tye Longshadow too.

\-- x --

A few weeks passed where Jaime would still occasionally allow the unpleasant first meeting to bleed back into his conscience. Eventually, as he was finally starting to forget about it altogether, it came crashing back down on top of him on one fateful morning.

Jaime had been woken up by Khaji Da who was passing along an incoming transmission from the Watchtower. He rubbed his eye sockets and sat up quickly. Jaime told Khaji Da to accept the transmission from the martian.

“Blue Beetle, we have a situation developing in Central City. I know it’s not close to you, but you are one of the few respondents available. Impulse needs all the help he can get.”

Hearing that name caused Jaime to fizzle in anger for a few moments. Whilst he didn’t want to help the man who was apparently capable of handing everything on his own; he wanted to impress the Justice League and that meant never turning down a request.

“Scarab and I are happy to help. We’ll fly there now.”

[ _ “Speak for yourself, Jaime Reyes.” _ ]

Jaime hastily ran out his bedroom and stopped when he saw Tye lacing up his shoes in a hurry.

“Jaime, wait! I accepted the mission request too.” Tye rose to his feet in his orange casual wear before cheekly remarking, “After all, Impulse is a friend of mine.”

As expected, Jaime frowned at the comment. Jaime couldn’t understand how anyone could be friends with such a quick-footed and quick-mouthed prig. But what baffled him more was that Martian Manhunter hadn’t told him Tye was going on this mission either.

The Watchtower’s quality of communications had definitely declined over the years. The coordinator used to let everyone know who had currently accepted mission requests and updated each member when another superhero had signed on. Martian Manhunter didn’t seem to have the time to do that anymore. It made Jaime get lost in thinking about how the Justice League needed to hire more hands for the control panel.

“Jaime! Stop wasting time, let’s go!”

“Right,” he cleared his throat, “I can fly us to the Zeta tube.”

Tye nodded quickly and waited patiently as Jaime armored up. Like an eagle swooping at its prey, Jaime picked up Tye and flew out the window with him. Flying in the air gave Jaime time to reflect on how much he was not looking forward to this run in with Impulse again. In addition, it only helped his initial resentment towards Tye resurface.

He took a deep breath before entering the Zeta tube reminding himself that he was doing all of this, so that someday, he would be a member of the Justice League. He clung to the motivation as tightly as Tye was holding onto him as they flew into the heart of Central City.

And that’s when they saw it.

A big red bubble grew from somewhere on the ground before rapidly expanding and destroying everything in its path. It even rose to an impressive height forcing Jaime to land on the ground much sooner than he had anticipated. They had to find Bart to get more information before dropping in on whatever it was.

Another red bubble buzzed violently as it grew, before Tye and Jaime heard a man shouting.

“Look out!”

Jaime instantly recognized the voice but couldn’t spot the source of it.

[ _ “Jaime Reyes, the Impulse is about to land on us!” _ ]

Jaime gasped and looked up just in time before being able to hold his arms out and catch the flying speedster. He had clearly been propelled by one of the unexplainable energy waves.

A rather exhausted looking Bart landed with a thud in Jaime’s awaiting arms. Jaime was quick to put the battered speedster down on his feet again. Bart quickly descended to rest on his knees on the ground. He needed to catch a breath badly.

“Tye, make sure Impulse is okay, I’ll take down,” he paused not knowing who he was actually up against, “Whoever it is…”

Jaime took off running to attack the unknown threat whilst Tye ran to crouch by Bart’s side.

“Impulse! Are you alright?”

A dusty cough came from the speedster’s lungs, before he responded, “Yeah I’m crash.” 

With Tye’s help, Bart stood up clearly dazed, “Wait... Was that Blue Beetle?”

“Yeah,” he tilted his head unsure of how Bart had missed that the first time. “I heard you two got off to a rough start?”

“You could say that again,” he folded his arms across his chest reminding Tye of a mini-Jaime.

Tye couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the sight before he tried to work some damage control.

“Jaime’s a good guy Bart. He’s just a little rough around the edges. Could you cut him slack?  _ Please? _ ”

Bart mulled on Tye’s request for a second. He knew it wasn’t in his nature to be bitter and to hold childish grudges against someone. Plus, Jaime had just saved him from a painful landing. He took a deep breath and let it go. 

“Alright, I’ll give him a second chance. Also,” he paused to grin, “His name is Jaime huh?”

Tye hadn’t realized until now that he had accidentally let Jaime’s secret identity slip in passing, “Shit! Don’t tell Jaime I told you his name!”

“No promises!” Bart winked before getting serious again, “ _ Also _ , we should probably get back out there and help. Jaime- I mean Blue Beetle- can’t face Neutron alone.”

“Who’s Neutron?”

“Not sure, but he’s going to mode Central City if he keeps expelling energy blasts from his body. They keep getting bigger and it’s destroying everything in his path!”

The man with size related powers was now fully aware of the magnitude of how serious their mission was. Neutron had to be taken down before he obliterated Central City.

“Alright, let's do it.”

Bart nodded before speeding off, leaving Tye to grow his astral form to the height of the skyscrapers he was surrounded by. The meditating man knew he probably wouldn’t be of too much help to the situation given Neutron’s powers, but he figured he could always try stomping on the guy to slow him down.

Blue Beetle finally had eyes on the man sporting a ridiculous red vessel as a costume. He watched from behind the corner of a building as the man fired two red energy blasts from his wrists blowing up the giant brass statue of Central City’s favorite hero.

“One Flash down, one to go!”

[ _ “Jaime Reyes, the Neutron has a control chip on his neck. I suggest we destroy that to return him to his human state.” _ ]

After acknowledging the advice, Jaime took a chance with a direct assault. He flew directly at the man, successfully tackling him from behind into the concrete. The two quickly broke out in a series of grunts as they struggled to fight one another.

Jaime had not been expecting the man to be as strong as he was. Just as he hadn’t been expecting the man to propel a beam from the center of his chestplate. Narrowly missing a brush with a barbecuing blast, Jaime rolled off to the side. 

He was about to lunge back at Neutron when the man suddenly raised his hands with fury, and a dangerously red glow engulfed his entire body.

Jaime’s eyes widened at the sight. He didn’t even need to listen to the series of panicked chirps from Khaji Da to know that he was in trouble. He needed to get away and  _ fast _ . Even at the scarab’s top speeds, there was no way he could escape with his life.

And that’s when the ominous red glow began to expand.

Jaime turned to run as the horrific sound of buzzing approached him at the speed of light.

Suddenly, he felt himself hover off the ground; but he wasn’t flying… He was being… carried? He looked up and saw the face of his enemy. It was official, Impulse had saved him; and he honestly didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Hey  _ Blue _ ,” he grinned, “Thought you could use a hand?”

Jaime listened to the repetitive swishing of Bart’s legs carrying them away from the persistent red field chasing them only a few feet behind.

“Hola,” he rolled his eyes unhappily at the smug tone. 

_ Maybe death would have been the better option? _ And judging by how quickly the blast was still chasing them, it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibilities that they could both end up dead.

“I was talking to Tye about you,” he grunted as he sharply veered around a corner, “and he said you’re a really good guy. And you know what?” his green eyes gazed deep into Jaime’s brown, “I believe him. I was hoping I could find that out for myself? Perhaps over a coffee or something?”

The proposition caused Jaime’s face to contort to an expression he’d never made before. He was admittedly confused by the proposition. It had almost sounded like Impulse had asked him out on a date, but he knew there was no way the speedster could have meant it that way… Surely…

“Uhh… Sure?”

“Great!”

Jaime blinked at Bart’s genuine enthusiasm. The speedster finally jumped and skidded to a halt as the murderous field behind them dissipated.

“Well I think old Neutron over there has run out of juice. So Jaime, what’s the plan?”

A stunned Jaime short circuited, “Wait? Did you just-”

“Yeah! I figured we should work together, like you said! I’m open to suggestions,” he settled his hands on hips and beamed patiently.

“No, no,” he dismissed quickly, raising a confused finger, “Did you just say my name?”

“Oops! Spoilers...” Bart bit his lip nervously before admitting, “Tye accidentally let it slip earlier.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” he murmured under his breath.

Bart rested a hand on Jaime’s armored shoulder and chuckled sweetly.

“Hang on Blue, I’m happy to make it even. My name’s Bart Allen. I don’t mind if you know my secret identity. That’s such a retro thing anyway.”

“Oh... Gracias,” he offered awkwardly. 

It was kind of hard to concentrate on anything else other than the hand Bart comfortably had resting on his shoulder. It was almost more surprising then Bart’s sudden decision to trust Jaime with such sensitive information.

“So anyway, what’s the plan?”

“Scarab told me there’s a control chip on his neck, all we need to do is break it.”

“How do we get close enough? Somehow I don’t think you’re going to be able to sneak up on him again.”

“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. Maybe we can distract him? We need to keep him focused on using his wrist blasters instead of the field blasts.”

“Well he seems to hate speedsters, so I’ll distract him so that you can sneak up on him from behind again. You might want to tell Tye to hang back otherwise the distraction might fail.”

“Good call. Alright, let's do this.”

The two nodded before setting about their assigned tasks. Tye hung back as instructed by Jaime, allowing for Bart to take center stage. And boy did he ever.

“Hey Neutron,” he casually raised a hand getting said man to spin towards him, “I heard you don’t like the Flash? Are you jealous that all of Central City  _ loves  _ him,” he began to run a hand through his plentiful auburn locks, “or that you’re not related to his  _ devilishly  _ good looking grandson?”

The distraction worked well; too well. Even Jaime faltered for a second for some reason unbeknownst to him; but he quickly broke out of his stupor as Neutron began firing blasts from his wrists at the speedster.

Unsurprisingly, Bart dodged the ruby, red bolts with ease. The ruins of the building behind him welcomed the blasts; they couldn’t be destroyed anymore anyway.

To Bart’s concern, Neutron seemed to be rapidly accelerating to the point where he was going to decide to expel a large blast. Improvising, he pretended to get shot by one of the nearby blasts and fell to the ground clutching at his leg. He quickly let Jaime know he was faking and to carry on with the plan over the comms. Jaime had to give it to him, it had been convincing.

Neutron grinned with glee before jogging up to the wounded speedster, eager to finish him off once and for all. He raised a fist and it glowed in preparation for murder.

“Any last words  _ Kid  _ Flash?”

“Well for starters I‘m  _ Impulse _ ,” he raised a finger and was about to continue when Jaime finally made his move.

The uneducated man was roughly pinned to the ground by a series of blue staples. Acting right away, Bart dashed forward and vibrated his hand on the control chip causing it to fall to pieces. Neutron’s suit reacted right away, quietly hissing with relief as it was powered off.

The man grunted groggily before asking, “What happened?”

“You were taken down by the new dynamic duo! Impulse,” he raised his hands to present himself accordingly, before framing the man next to him, “ _ and _ Blue Beetle!”

Jaime couldn’t hide the small grin that came from Bart’s antics; or the fact that he had listed his name first. He even indulged Bart in a high five, just as Tye was running up to meet them.

“Did I miss something?” Tye eyed the pair suspiciously.

“Yeah,” he answered excitedly, “Jaime seems quite crash after all! We're even going to grab a coffee together!”

“ _ Interesting… _ ” he mused aloud looking over at his roommate with a grin.

“We’re just going to get to know each other a little better.” Jaime folded his arms to express that he didn’t like what Tye was implying.

“Well, I can take care of Neutron. Why don’t you two go grab that coffee right now?”

Bart dashed forward to grab Jaime’s hand, “Ooh! I know the perfect place! Come on Blue!”

Jaime’s jaw gaped in shock as Tye waved at him tauntingly while Bart casually dragged him away. The grin on Tye’s face made Jaime want to aim a sonic cannon at him, but he resisted. Instead, he focused on taking ownership of his hand back before willingly following the speedster to their coffee catch-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment if this has definitely taken a turn towards the more promising side of things.


	3. Injuries Abound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with this fic! Gots to finish it before 2021 to officially complete the event! Then there will be plenty of new content for me to look forward to posting/ writing!

A few weeks had passed since the post-mission coffee catch up; and he’d only seen more and more of the speedster on missions. It had turned out that they truly did make a good team when they worked together. Every time someone from the team complimented Jaime on the red and blue partnership, the scarab would get jealous; much to Jaime’s amusement.

[ _ “This host, and this scarab are partners. Not this host and the Bart Allen.” _ ]

Rotating in the sky ever slightly as he began his descent, Jaime grinned.

_ “Don’t worry Scarab. If I had to choose any beetle to carry around on my back everywhere, it would be you.” _

The beetle chirped something akin to a grumbled approval.

Seconds later Jaime got a pleasant surprise when he flew down into the ensuing fight and spotted Bart zipping around on the ground. He wasn’t aware that Bart had been on the roster for this particular mission; or Cassie or Tim.

Cassie was already trying her best to take down Devastation in a fist to fist, street fight. Tim however was trying something more crafty with Bart’s assistance. Jaime watched as Tim dislodged some power lines and asked Bart to run them around the beast.

“Wondergirl! Pull back!”

Cassie nodded before quickly flying up into the sky. Bart took his cue and ran the tinsel directly around the grunting Christmas tree. Tim completed the look by ditching a super charged Batarang at the conductive cables, lighting the tree up in a colorful display.

Devastation screamed as she was jolted with many watts of electricity. Bart carefully dropped to the floor and leg-swiped her. Jaime watched as her stumpy legs gave way at the swing of the axe, before her chin collided with the asphalt. Steam rose off her body and she appeared to be down for the count. That’s when Bart noticed Jaime.

“Oh!  _ Hey Blue! _ ”

Jaime grinned and raised a hand at the speedster before suddenly yelling out a warning, courtesy of the beetle on his back.

“Look out!”

Devastation snapped the cables with an impressive show of strength, before lunging at the speedster that had strung her up like it was nothing. Bart managed to dodge her grabby palms easily enough, before running away at Tim’s command.

The leader of the mission hurled a hand of Batarangs at Devastation, that all wedged in her back like crackers in dip. The sight made Bart and Jaime cringe. When they exploded, the four of them waited with baited breath while a thick cloud of grey smoke smothered the condition of the villain. 

They hoped the heavy hitter was finally down for the count; and for real this time. But unfortunately, Devastation emerged from the smoke with a grin revealing that she was completely unharmed.

“You’ll have to do better than that Boy Blunder!”

Jaime aimed his sonic canons at her and fired after remarking, “Try  _ this  _ out for size!”

“Ha! Tickles!” she taunted.

Obliging Khaji Da’s recommendation, he increased the power of the beam until she grunted in genuine pain. She was not about to allow herself to be humiliated like this. It was time to retaliate and show the pesky hero who was boss.

She staggered over to a parked car by the sidewalk before picking it up and lobbing it directly at a gasping Jaime. He was forced to attempt to catch it as there were too many surrounding skyscrapers filled with busy office workers. Activating his jetpack to stop him from joining the squished bugs on the windows of said buildings, he swore.

“¡MIERDA!”

Jaime visibly struggled as he did his best to hold on to the car. Khaji Da tried to help with the extreme weight, but they were definitely losing to gravity. The hero and car were slowly growing momentum as they fell to the ground.

Bart immediately ran underneath Jaime and began creating large wind funnels with his arms. In conjunction with Jaime and Khaji Da’s combined strength, the wind funnels allowed Blue Beetle to lower the car safely back down onto the ground.

“Gracias,” he thanked Bart as he tried to ignore the beads of sweat swimming on his forehead.

“You’re welcome Blue!” He grinned as he put his hands on his hips highlighting his fantastic figure. “So, did you come to watch  _ me  _ take down devastation?”

“No. I thought you came here to watch  _ me _ take her down,” he leered competitively, as he took a step closer.

Over the past few missions they had spent together, they had turned their initial rivalry into that of a friendly competition. Everything was now about trying to outdo the other to see who was more likely to win the next golden ticket to join the Justice League. On their last mission, they had both counted how many henchmen they could each take out; Bart had won.

“Hm,” he hummed cheekily, “First to take down Devastation wins?”

“You’re on ese.”

The pair whose faces were only an inch away were startled by Cassie shouting from the sky.

“Hey you two! Quit flirting and get back to work!”

“We’re not flirting!” Jaime snapped back, sounding truly offended. He ignored the scarab’s comment that suggested otherwise.

“Yeah Wondergirl! It’s just friendly competition! But you got it boss! Back to work!” 

Bart saluted the woman sporting the golden headband like a halo in the sky and ran back at Devastation to distract her. He began by running in circles around her throwing a series of useless, blurry punches.

The brick house laughed evilly before taunting, “You’re wasting your time  _ Speedy _ .”

“But I’m not!” 

The surprise announcement from the sky caused Devastation to brace her forearms above her head as Cassie’s feet met her shoulders. Devastation was driven neck deep into the road in a messy, destruction of council property. She growled and thrashed around in the crumbled asphalt.

“There,” she cheerily brushed off the debris on her red pants, “I think that should do it!”

“Think again girly!” Devastation crowed, before erupting out of the ground with a second wind.

It was at this point Jaime had decided maybe a hands on approach was needed. He flew to the ground and began charging at her, but she had other plans for the four of them who were all now on the ground.

She leapt into the air and brought her fists together in preparation of ploughing them into the ground. With her at the epicenter, an earthquake erupted outwards from beneath her hands sending out ripples of well… devastation. 

Cassie and Jaime flew to safety, Tim grapple-gunned on a light pole and Bart ran far from it all.

The woman appeared quite frustrated that all four had escaped the maneuver unscathed. And again, the fighting resumed. Cassie was back in throwing punches before she was grabbed by the foot and swung into a building. Jaime didn’t fare much better other than splitting her lip.

“You’ll regret that  _ bug! _ ”

Her ironclad grip caught a hold of Jaime’s ankle, and before she could cause him some serious bodily harm, someone gave her a taste first.

“GARH!”

Jaime kicked at her wrist with his free foot and flew free to see Bart phasing a hand through her chest. Acting more on reflex than revenge, Devastation swatted at Bart furiously, sending him flying into the same building as Cassie.

Fury bubbled in Jaime’s chest as he watched Bart’s limp body fall to the ground in a heap.

He clapped his hands together aggressively before forming the cannon he saved for special occasions. He fired putting Devastation down for the count once and for all. It was probably more force than what was necessary, but it did the job.

Jaime flew straight over to Bart who hadn’t moved from his place on the ground. He propped the coughing speedster up in his arms to check on him.

“Ese are you alright?”

Bart’s eyes flickered open with a grin.

“I didn’t know you cared?”

“¿Puedes ser serio por un momento?” Jaime sterned.

Bart sighed and pointed at his right foot, “My foot is feeling the mode.”

Jaime ordered his scarab to scan Bart for injuries. After the analysis was complete Jaime passed along his findings.

“Bart you fractured your foot. You’re going to be out of action for a while until it heals.”

“Dang it!” Bart folded his arms with annoyance and pouted.

Jaime really didn’t appreciate his mind pointing out that he found the sight kind of cute. He shook the thought away and made an offer that had nothing to do with spending more time with the speedster.

“I can fly you home if you want?”

“Nah” he smiled gratefully, “Thanks anyway, but I don’t want to be an imposition.” 

Bart rose to his feet and began trying to walk off before wincing and lifting his fractured foot off the ground.

“Hey Cassie, can you, Tim and Blue wrap up here? I gotta get an ice pack on my foot.”

“Sure,” she shook her head at Bart’s idiocy having pieced together what he was about to do.

Jaime watched in disbelief as Bart began speed hopping away on one foot. It was such a weird sight, but his stamina was impressive; even if it was just on one leg. Jaime rolled his eyes and took off like a rocket, flying up behind Bart before suddenly scooping him up in his arms.

“Woah!” he blurted with a surprised laugh, “Jaime, what are you doing?”

“I’m flying you home ese. I know we have this weird friend-enemy relationship, but you can accept my help you know?” Jaime also reminded himself to thank Bart later for having saved him earlier as well.

“Frenemies huh?” An auburn eyebrow reached up to touch his fringe, and a grin that said they were friends slipped onto his cheek.

“I guess?” A small smile snuck onto his own face. “Tell me where you live and I’ll have Scarab take us there.”

Bart nodded before giving Jaime his super secret home address; home to the Flash clan.

“Jaime, can I ask you something?”

The curiosity in Bart’s tone had Jaime undeniably worried about what the nature of this up and coming question was; but he proceeded to invite Bart with, “Sure...”

“Why do you want to join the Justice League?” 

That had not been the question Jaime had been expecting; nor had he been prepared for the intense eye contact that Bart was maintaining with him as he patiently awaited a response.

“Ever since the Scarab attached itself to me, I’ve wanted to use my powers for good; so I became a superhero. Over the years I’ve discovered that some people are scared of me… I just thought that if I became a member of the Justice League, maybe people wouldn’t fear me anymore?”

Bart looked up at Jaime with a soft, reassuring smile, “Well I’m not scared of you.”

“Gracias Bart,” he found himself smiling back appreciatively.

“I mean, with those  _ tiny  _ muscles of yours,” he poked Jaime’s armored bicep playfully, “What’s there to be afraid of?”

“You realize I could drop you right now?”

“You wouldn’t,” he smirked knowing he was in the winner’s court, “You’d never get accepted into the Justice League if you did that.”

Jaime sighed with disappointment, “I guess you’re right.” Moments later he chuckled defeatedly before going silent. And that’s when he decided to bat back the question in return, “Why do you want to join?”

“Well,” he wiggled, getting comfortable in Jaime's arms, “As you know, my grandpa is in the Justice League. I want to make him proud.”

Jaime nodded slowly in understanding; while Bart dwelled on how lame his answer was in comparison to Jaime’s. The younger speedster knew that his grandparents, Barry specifically, would be proud of him no matter what. It was kind of cliche, but he figured carrying on the torch and continuing the Allen legacy would make Barry more proud somehow.

The man beneath the armor of Blue Beetle - who he still hadn’t actually seen yet - actually had a completely valid reason to want the position. He knew that Jaime could benefit from this opportunity largely; much more than he possibly could. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to try and save a life and have someone scream thinking they were under attack just because you didn’t look human.

Bart sighed and made the decision right then and there to let Jaime win. He was going to stop trying to impress the Justice League at every possible opportunity. Jaime deserved it more than he did anyway. And he actually wanted Jaime to get that position. Maybe after Jaime had gotten it, then he could think about campaigning for the next year.

Jaime wasn’t sure what it was, but he sensed something change in the speedster. It triggered a protective mechanism in him.

“Bart, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he smiled genuinely, “Totally crash.”

The pair continued to chat up a storm on the flight back to Bart’s house. When Khaji Da finally landed the pair both in full costume at the front of Bart's house, Jaime helped Bart hobble to the door. Bart reached out with the hand not wrapped around Jaime’s neck for support and rang the doorbell knowing Iris would be home.

“Hey Bart. Oh,” her eyes widened in surprise upon settling on Jaime’s armor, “Who’s this? Also what happened?”

“Hey  _ grandma _ ! This is my friend Jaime! Also, I sprained my ankle” he grinned sheepishly praying a lecture wouldn’t soon fall on top of him. Meanwhile, he missed the sneaky smile that bubbled up onto Jaime’s face upon being referred to as Bart’s  _ friend _ .

[ _ “This is less than ideal! The Bart Allen just declared us as a friend. Recommended tactic: Tell him we don’t need his friendship.” _ ]

_ “Woah… You just hate everybody don’t you Scarab?” _

[ _ “Affirmative.” _ ]

Jaime rolled his eyes and helped Bart through the front door. Iris walked off to get a bag of ice per Bart’s request. She returned quickly and handed a bag of frozen peas to Bart, which is when the speedster turned to Jaime and made a request whilst gesturing up the staircase.

“Would you  _ peas  _ help me up the stairs?”

Iris groaned and walked away, which is very much what Jaime wanted to do to that cheesy grin facing him. But, he was a superhero, so he helped the shorter man up the stairs and into his bedroom.

“Room, sweet room!” Bart exclaimed, before hopping over to his bed on his good foot. He chuckled and sat up before placing the ice on his foot. “You’re welcome to stay if you want? Unless you find me too insufferable?”

Jaime grinned at the way Bart had put it to him like a challenge, before walking over and sitting down on the bed in his armor.

Bart watched as Jaime looked around his bedroom curiously in the clunky armor. The speedster wondered why Jaime hadn’t armored down yet? Maybe there was air conditioning inside of it? Maybe he had a zit? More and more reasons flooded his mind until Jaime spoke up.

“There’s a lot of Flash memorabilia in here.”

Bart grinned with pride. He loved his family and didn’t mind highlighting that fact to anybody and everybody.

“Well, my family is pretty Crash!”

The smirk fell backwards onto the bed and was lifted momentarily to make room for arms underneath the speedster’s head.

When Jaime looked across, he couldn’t help but notice that the light through the window was casting an emphasizing light on all of Bart’s manly curves from that angle. Jaime swallowed thickly and tried to tear his gaze away but failed. He just couldn’t look away, or stop imagining what was underneath that costume.

[ _ “This host is displaying signs of arousal! Stop staring at the Bart Allen right now Jaime Reyes!” _ ] 

_ “I- I’m trying...” _

[ _ “Give me full permission of this host body! I can destroy the distraction!” _ ]

_ “N-No!” _

“So Blue,” he swung his legs a little which shook the bed, “What’s the deal with your scarab thingy?”

Jaime looked over his shoulder to see Bart’s green eyes staring at the magnificent beetle on his back. If only the speedster had known what it was thinking whilst admiring it. The irony.

“Well,” he rubbed at his neck, “The scarab talks to me? His name is Khaji Da, but I just call him Scarab. You already know some of the things he can do like scanning things and creating weapons. He’s an artificial intelligence capable of doing a lot of things, too many to list really,” he chuckled guiltily for what had felt like a massive brag.

[ _ “That was the most unflattering description this scarab has ever heard, Jaime Reyes.” _ ]

_ “Lo siento?” _ Jaime offered the somewhat heartfelt apology to his seething scarab.

“Well, that sounds pretty crash to me!”

“Gracias,” he smiled back awkwardly; having not been accustomed to people praising his powers.

“Wait,” he sat up smirking as he prepared to let a joke crawl out of his wit, “Can he also turn you into an  _ actual  _ beetle?”

Jaime squinted his eyes to show Bart just how stupid he thought the joke was, before grinning himself.

“Eres una  _ idiota _ . You know that right?”

“Sometimes,” he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

“So,” he grinned, “What does your girlfriend think of you being an idiot?”

Bart blinked at the unexpected question that had come out of the blue.

“I’m single,” he clutched at his chest like he was an injured prize, “If you  _ must  _ know.”

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” he started laughing to himself.

“Is that so?” Bart chose not to take offence and continue using his ordinary cheeky tone. “Well, tell me this Jaime. Are  _ you, _ ” he pressed a finger to Jaime’s chestplate, “seeing anybody?”

“No.” 

Bart subtly licked his teeth as a thought raced through his mind. Jaime tried to decipher the strange look on Bart’s face, but he was left completely mind boggled.

“Well then,” he grinned righteously, “I guess you can’t judge me for being single then!”

“I’m not  _ judging  _ you ese,” he assured with a smile, “I’m just-”   
  


Jaime’s mobile phone buzzed aggressively in his pocket. Khaji Da warned Jaime that Tye Longshadow was calling. Sighing and taking the escape route, Jaime pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered. Bart even heard the panicked voice of Jaime’s roommate.

“What’s wrong hermano?” A few moments passed as Jaime’s concerned expression crumbled to annoyance. “Are you serious? ¡Solo invítala a salir ahora!” Jaime argued with Tye for a solid minute before giving up and offering to come back to their shared apartment.

“Lo siento Bart. I’ve got to go. Tye wants my help with some stupid crush he has.” He stood up and chuckled pitifully for Tye’s sake. “I’ll see you around?” 

“Sounds good.”

Jaime walked over to the window and hesitated for a moment, “Would you want to come over and chill-hang with Tye and me sometime?”

Bart couldn’t repress the gigantic beam that obviously sprung forth, “That’d be so crash!”

“Chido,” he smiled; and that basically translated the word for him.

He climbed out the window and waved before flying off. Once Jaime was out of sight and was well on his way to helping Tye with his all consuming crush, Bart flopped back on his bed with a sigh. 

He was beginning to know the feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a comment.


	4. Marinara Is The Fastest Color

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this fic is NOW finished! I am sorry; I won't lie and sit here and say that I didn't rush it. Technically, I had written this chapter and one more in 2019; however, I decided to merge the fourth and fifth chapters because reasons...
> 
> Maybe someday I will rewrite this fic to give it the pacing it deserves? Who knows... But I've got to admit, there are projects I am much more excited to be working on! I'm currently on Chapter 2 of a new fic, and oof is it something else...
> 
> That all being said, I hope you enjoy this last chapter!

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and Jaime was sprawled out asleep on his bed. His bare chest rose up and down peacefully. He lived for quiet naps and would snap up any opportunities to take them. He didn’t care if the scarab didn’t get it. All he knew was, he loved naps.

A rough knock on his bedroom door shattered the dreamland he had been in. 

He was livid. 

He had been right in the middle of a dream where he was accepting his award for being the newest member of the Justice League. Bart had been the presenter and was about to give him the customary kiss for receiving his shiny, new medal. The speedster’s lips had only been an inch away from his cheek. 

“Hey hermano,” he knocked again, “Are you awake in there?” 

Jaime sat up, cheeks burning red; because he clearly had bigger issues than whatever his inconsiderate roommate did. He was crushing on Bart, and had been for some time now, and that was really hard to ignore; especially given what he had planned to do to Bart after the speedster had kissed him.

Tye called out Jaime’s name even louder this time, with absolutely no regard for his napping friend.

“¿Qué diablos quieres?” he snapped.

“Are you free tonight?”

“Are you serious?!  _ That’s _ what you woke me up to ask?!” Jaime had actually sounded like he was on the verge as tone raised an octave.

“Just answer the question!”

Jaime groaned and let his face fall into his warm palm, “¿Si? ¿Supongo?”

“Okay,” he began walking away so that Jaime only heard a distant, “thanks!”

It took a few moments before Jaime’s eyelids creased with suspicion. Curiosity got the better of him and he tired shuffled out into the living room to catch Tye hanging up the phone. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the rays of sunshine coming in through the window.

“Wait- Why did you ask me if I was free?”

‘I was just cashing in your offer early.” Tye flopped on the couch and shooed Jaime to the side with a hand so that he could see the television. “I invited Bart over for pizza tonight.”

“Oh sure...” Jaime and his grey sweatpants took one step back towards his room to resume his nap, before the words were suddenly trickled into the process center of his brain. After the pin had dropped, he whirled around completely awake to shout, “Wait! You did what?”

Tye chuckled at the horrified expression on Jaime’s face.

“Well you said he could come over and I haven’t hung out with him for a while, so I invited him over? I thought you two were friends now? What’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem?” The shirtless man blinked and held out his arms like Tye thought he was some kind of joke. “The  _ problem  _ is you invited Bart over and gave me  _ no  _ notice! When’s he going to get here?”

Both men’s eyes snapped towards the door as the doorbell chimed throughout the apartment.

“Ay. ¡Dios mio!”

Jaime started pacing towards the door and spoke over Tye who had begun to panic not getting the chance to warn his half-naked friend about something as he complained.

“Why did I move in with you again?”

The second Jaime looked back towards the door which he had not reached yet, his eyes widened as Bart came phasing through the door, and  _ fast _ . Bart’s eyes rounded to match as he immediately hit the brakes and reared his feet upwards to skid into Jaime’s arms. 

The shirtless man had to quickly put a leg backwards to steady himself from the unexpected impact, but they had both luckily remained upright.

Bart gulped looking up into Jaime’s eyes; but Jaime was on another planet, lost in the sensation of how natural it felt to have Bart in his arms. They both settled back into reality quick enough.

“Ooh. Ah... Sorry?”

Jaime grinned and raised an eyebrow, “Do you always just let yourself in?”

“ _ No _ ,” Bart smirked with dignity, “Tye and I have a system. I ring the doorbell and I let myself in so he doesn’t have to get up.”

“It’s the perfect system.” Tye lifted a beer and grinned at Jaime and Bart’s predicament.

“Huh. Well, I’m not lazy enough that I can’t answer the door.”

“But too lazy to put on a shirt?” Bart was wearing the smuggest grin of all time.

“ _ Nah-uh _ ,” he exclaimed letting go of Bart and gesturing at his chest, “This is Tye’s fault! He woke me up like two minutes ago!”

“ _ Sure _ ,” he sang, mocking Jaime with ease.

Tye cut into the flirting, “Why don’t you two take a seat? I’ll go grab you a beer Bart.”

“Thanks!”

Bart walked over to the couch on his own, already knowing the lay of the land. It was honestly incredible to think he’d been here as many times as he had, and that he’d never met Jaime before. He was always on missions or sleeping to recover from one.

And now that Bart truly looked at Jaime, he stopped functioning. He couldn’t help but just stare at Jaime. He was gorgeous. Out of this world gorgeous. He even began wondering whether Jaime was from outer space as opposed to his scarab.

Bart hadn’t been expecting warm, hazel irises that were full of life. He had the blackest hair that Bart had ever seen, and it suited him more than anyone else in the world. Jaime was showing off tonnes of his beautiful tanned skin. And those abs! Why was there not a law against Jaime wearing clothes in the first place? Jaime was just the dreamiest man on the face of the Earth.

“Bart?” Jaime couldn’t help but notice that Bart had spaced out.

“What?”

“Are you okay? You seem kind of surprised?

“Ah… Yeah, sorry Blue. I’ve just never- never seen you without your armor before…” 

“Oh. That,” he raised a hand to rub at his neck nervously, “Yeah...” 

Tye rounded the corner and handed Bart a freshly uncapped beer bottle.

“So what pizzas did you guys want?” Tye adjusted his orange bandanna. “I’ll be heading off shortly.”

“But I just got here?” Bart chuckled incredulously.

“I’m really hungry though,” he waved at himself impatiently, “So what pizzas do you guys want?” 

“Meat Lovers,” Bart and Jaime both answered in perfect unison. 

They both chuckled at one another over the unrehearsed synchronization.

“Cool. I’m off to go get the pizzas!” Tye’s mood had immediately improved.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to head on over? I could be there before you could even say the word ‘pizza’,” he chuckled to himself.

“Don’t waste your breath Bart,” Jaime cut in rolling his eyes, “Tye is crushing on this girl who works at the Pizza store. Her name’s Asami. He’s not going to let either of us go down there.”

Tye shot his backstabbing friend an irritated look as he folded his arms contently. Jaime was finally starting to have some fun at Tye’s expense for once.

“Why don’t you ask her out?” Bart asked with confusion.

“It’s way too soon dude.” Tye shook his head like Bart was clueless. “Anyway, I’ll see you when I get back.”

Bart and Jaime watched with amusement as Tye paced out the door with an excitement that was rarely seen in him. It was amazing what love could do to a person.

“He’s unbelievable.” Jaime chuckled in the new found room where it was just the two of them.

“That’s Tye for you!” Bart joined in the laughter.

The room quickly became awkwardly silent. Bart seemed content staring at Jaime, but the Latino was getting restless.

“So... how do you know Tye?”

“Well… He is friends with this guy who was interested in me.”

Jaime already knew exactly who Bart was talking about. There was only one guy in Tye’s friendship group who was gay. Jaime wasn’t fond of the man either and it always made group catch ups incredibly awkward. He cringed when Bart confirmed the name unnecessarily and tried to get lost in his explanation.

“Tye acted as his wing man. It didn’t work out. I wasn’t interested in him at all, so I let him down gently. But Tye and I, we sort of struck up a friendship out of that. He seemed like a cool dude.”

Jaime was relieved to hear that Bart hadn’t been interested, but he was also pleased to hear that they both shared the same high opinion of Tye Longshadow. And that’s when a different part of that conversation struck his lagged brain.

“Wait a second… Does that mean- Are you,” he hesitated finishing his sentence feeling uncomfortable to be asking something so personal, “interested in guys?” He quickly added that Bart didn’t have to answer him either if he didn’t want to.

“Jaime, we’re good friends. I don’t mind telling you that I’m gay. I mean… I thought I had made that obvious when I was ogling you earlier?” Bart laughed beside Jaime on the couch.

“Oh,” he peeped out with wide eyes.

“Is that a problem?” Bart asked, sitting up straight.

“No!  _ ¡Dios, no! _ Not at all.”

Bart breathed a big sigh of relief. Jaime held up a finger and excused himself apologetically. He quickly initiated an argument with Khaji Da.

_ “How come you didn’t tell me he was gay! You knew I was interested in him!” _

[ _ “This scarab did not want to encourage a relationship with the Bart Allen. It’s a distraction you do not need Jaime Reyes.” _ ]

Jaime growled internally and penciled in a shouting match for later. In the meantime, he returned back to his conversation with Bart. He swallowed anxiously as he trekked down a path unknown. He knew this could end very badly for him, but he wanted to brave, like Bart had been.

“I feel like I should be honest with you Bart, since you were honest with me.”

“Jaime, you don’t owe me anything,” he smiled reassuringly.

The speedster could see Jaime looked as sick as a dog. Wondering if it would help sell his point, Bart rested a hand on Jaime’s kneecap. The contact made Jaime’s heart flutter with feelings. He was sure even his face fell apart in pleasure. And speaking of his face, his cheeks went bright red ready for the big reveal.

“I’ve never told anyone this. Tye figured it out, but I’ve never  _ actually  _ said it aloud. I’m bisexual.”

“Oh,” he leaned back pleasantly surprised, “Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. I won’t tell anybody else, I promise.” He smiled warmly, and Jaime knew that his secret was safe with Bart.

“Gracias.” Jaime smiled back sheepishly.

“Well… A guy as good looking as you could certainly have his pick of anybody.”

Jaime chuckled nervously, “You think I’m attractive?”

“Jaime,” he deadpanned, “Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror?”

Jaime ducked his head adorably to avoid Bart noticing his flustered face. Bart only chuckled at that. All Jaime could think about was the strong chemistry brewing in the atmosphere between them. He could feel it in every part of his body. He wasn’t sure if Bart could sense it, but he definitely could.

Bart suddenly shifted so that he could pull out his phone when it chimed. Jaime watched mesmerized as Bart’s warm, green eyes darted across the lines of the text message he had just received.

“Oh great,” he chuckled after the sarcastic remark, “The promise of pizza has just been broken. Asami asked Tye out and now they are going out to dinner as soon as her shift ends. I’m happy for him though, it’s always moded when someone is too scared to follow their own heart.”

“I know the feeling,” he murmured.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing!” Jaime chuckled anxiously and sunk into the couch tapping his thighs.

“Well,” he grinned having seen through Jaime’s comment, “I guess it’s just you and me tonight Jaime!”

Jaime didn’t notice that Bart was magically sliding across the couch closer to him until their sides were pressed up together. He almost jumped at the surprise.

“Yeah I guess,” he glanced at Bart, “Well at least I won’t be alone tonight.”

“I’m always happy to keep you company Jaime.”

Jaime wasn’t sure what had suddenly come over him, but he had rolled on top of Bart to kiss him. Bart moaned happily and wrapped his arms around Jaime’s back. Jaime tried to return the favor as best he could, because it felt amazing to have Bart’s hands roam around on his back.

Khaji Da wasn’t happy about it, but Jaime was over the moon.

The two separated for a breath, and gazed at each other softly.

“Well that was crash.”

Jaime chuckled, “Yeah, it was.”

“So what did you want to do now?”

“How about we go on a date?”

“And waste this empty apartment?” Bart joked.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but… If we go out, and have a good time at dinner. Then I guess we can have a good time here too afterwards?”

Bart nodded enthusiastically, “I like the sound of that.”

“I thought you might  _ Amorcito _ .”

They shared another kiss before Bart melted into the couch whilst Jaime went to go and get changed for their date. Jaime quickly cleaned his room up a little bit fully expecting that Bart would be in there with him later. It was just a gut feeling. Their friendship had been developing for some time now, and they had shared way too much flirting across that timeframe. At some point, they had crossed a line. And it just felt right. There was no other way to say it.

Jaime strode out and grabbed Bart’s hand.

“Let’s go Amor.”

“Alrighty  _ babe _ ,” he winked.

Jaime pursed his lips in a grin and led Bart out the front door.

The two superheroes playing ordinary civilians enjoyed a meal out at Jaime’s favorite restaurant. The pair talked up a storm, staying out for hours. They just kept clicking on so many levels. If anything, the excitement and the promise of what was to come only grew as the night flashed by.

They shared many laughs, took a romantic stroll and shared ice-creams on their way back to the apartment. Tye also kept texting them with updates about his date with Asami. Both Tye’s friends were truly happy for him that Asami had taken the chance to ask him out and that it had ended so well, but they grinned knowing that their night was going to end even better.

Soon Jaime’s bedroom was messy again. The pair tossed articles of clothing about without a care, making their way to the bed. Jaime’s lips kept pressing kisses into Bart’s neck, whilst Bart’s lips tended to favor sprinkling kisses on Jaime’s chest. 

The active men rolled around in the sheets, tangling and knotting them in ways Jaime didn’t even know was possible. It was a busy night for Bart and Jaime, but eventually they fell asleep in one another’s arms.

Despite the years that passed by rather quickly for the couple, neither Bart or Jaime ever forgot about that special night; not when they were dating, not when they got engaged, and not when they eventually got married. Bart always liked to point it out as an example, when justifying why being impulsive was sometimes a good thing. And by god if Jaime didn’t agree each time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a comment as always! I'll be working as often as I can to get as much writing done as I can before work returns in 2021.

**Author's Note:**

> I guess let me know what you thought? Personally I didn't like it, but that's probably because a) I wrote it in 2019 and b) I hate it when they fight because they are meant for each otherrr.


End file.
